DESCRIPTION

Serendipity Center is a community-based, fully accredited K-12+ therapeutic school located in Portland, Oregon. Serendipity provides integrated education and mental health support for children and families who have yet to achieve success in school. Students come to us when other avenues have been exhausted, and the likelihood of achieving self-sufficiency is in doubt. At Serendipity, we offer a supportive school community where children affected by disability and trauma, who have experienced failed school placements, can learn and thrive. We help students to develop a range of skills – academic, vocational, relationship, and independent self-care – that allow them to become self-sufficient adults. All our programs are implemented through a lens that encompasses each child's holistic strengths and needs. Each student at Serendipity is assigned a master's level Clinical Case Manager who is responsible for delivering and coordinating mental health services for the student and their family.

Our Four-Pillar model is focused on delivering programs under four cornerstone areas:

• Education: Helping all children learn. We offer care and support to students within the framework of a regular school program of attending classes, pursuing areas of study, and earning credits towards a diploma.

• Transition: Building skills for life. Serendipity’s transition services create a bridge between K-12 classrooms and independent living. We prepare students for their new lives in the adult world, including entering the workforce.

• Mental Health: Healing through trauma-informed care. At Serendipity, mental health support and a cognitive-behavioral approach to maladaptive choices are seamlessly integrated into the classroom experience. Students benefit from individualized treatment support, psychosocial groups, art therapy, and coaching.

• Wellness: Growing healthy habits. Serendipity’s Wellness program develops lifelong health habits, which are critical to students impacted by trauma. Serendipity students access therapeutic recreation, a nutritious school food services program, and our Growing Minds Garden and Farm program.

Serendipity serves students from ages 5 to 21 between our lower and upper school programs from across the greater Portland Metro area. We partner with 20 school districts in our region. Districts refer students to Serendipity who have severe behavioral health issues, and whose needs cannot be met within public school settings. Serendipity students face challenges that include:

• Disability (99% of students are eligible for Special Education due to a disability that impacts learning)

• Poverty (all our students are eligible for free/reduced lunch since our free/reduced meal qualification rate was consistently over 45%)

• Histories of abuse (almost 70% are survivors of some form of adversity, such as physical and/or sexual abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence)

• Histories of physically aggressive behavior (over 80%)

• 43% arrive with histories of multiple failed school placements.

• 39% demonstrated self-endangering behaviors.

Serendipity has been working with our population of students and their families since 1979.

Services provided include:

• Mental health assessments

• Coordination of care with other professionals and team members

• Support parents and guardians in understanding the treatment process and in becoming meaningful participants in their students’ treatment

• Individual psychotherapy when appropriate

• Art therapy when appropriate

• Group psychotherapy when appropriate

• Family support services

• Psychiatric consultation

• Transition readiness skills

Contact:

Rachel Gitner
Director of Development
rachelg@serendipitycenter.org
971-230-7260
www.serendipitycenter.org